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A review by alisarae
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
5.0
I recently saw a tweet on the anniversary of Army poster boy Pat Tillman's death about how his death had been an intentional murder to shut up his criticism of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I read the AP article that suggested as much, the one with the less-than-60-yards quote from the Army's chief medical examiner who had performed Tillman's autopsy, refused to sign it because of such discrepancies with the body, and recommended a criminal investigation into Tillman's death (this request was denied).
I was shocked. Could this really be true? that as an Arizonan I had never heard this side of the story?
Thankfully Jon Krakauer, a journalist whom I really respect, wrote a book about it. I read this book specifically to find out the answer to this question. The parts about his growing up and football career were well written, but since I didn't care about any of that, I found it boring. The parts about the convoluted politics of Afghanistan and Pakistan were brief but informative, and I learned a lot. And about the Tillman conspiracy, I got my answer.
Yes, there was a conspiracy from the highest levels of the US government to cover up Tillman's fratricide, but not to murder him. Donald Rumsfeld had been personally tracking Tillman's career since his first weeks at bootcamp, and Tillman's platoon leader in the Rangers was also known by name by top brass since he had graduated first in class at West Point and had been chosen to lead a parade during Bush's inauguration.
As far as Krakauer can tell: enemies did launch a few mortars or grenades at the convoy that was hauling a broken Humvee through a narrow canyon. The convoy started returning fire, and the half of the platoon that had gone ahead of the convoy group (Tillman's group) turned around to assist. Tillman and two other men ran up on a ledge above the canyon and did not see any enemy fighters at that point. Despite repeated calls from both halves of the platoon on the radios to cease fire, being visible enough that nearly all the officers involved said they could see US-issued camo uniforms on the ledge, a purple smoke bomb thrown to alert the officers in the canyon that they were friendly, and waving their arms in the air with their weapons down, Tillman and one other man who followed him were killed. The elite Ranger who killed Tillman was completely out of control: he was shooting directly behind him at vehicles in his own convoy and refused to stop shooting even when another soldier pulled on his pants while yelling to cease fire. The firefight lasted nearly 15 minutes.
What a nightmare, but it didn't end there. From the very outset of dealing with the body, Army protocol was broken—Tillman's uniform was removed and burned, including some of his personal effects that his brother Kevin (who served alongside him from bootcamp through the Rangers) repeatedly requested be retrieved. The White House, ie Rumsfeld and Bush, were informed of Tillman's fratricide before the Tillman family had been informed of his death. Orders from the very top down were to deliberately mislead and even outright lie about how Tillman had been killed. In fact, it wasn't until Kevin reunited with his Rangers platoon after a grieving period that the Army realized the keeping the gag order on nearly 600 people whom Kevin worked, slept, ate and drank with wasn't going to last long, and they tried to get ahead of the problem. They told Kevin, then the White House prepared a no-questions press conference to happen on Memorial Day weekend when most Americans wouldn't be paying attention. The news leaked and the press were the ones who informed Tillman's mother of the truth. If Pat hadn't been famous, and if Kevin hadn't returned to work, would the truth ever have gotten out? Many of the people involved grew disillusioned and even disgusted with the military over the incident, seeing through thin attempts to distract and placate soldiers from the reality that the military only cares about them so long as they are alive.
Addressing specific points from the inaccurate conspiracy theory about Tillman's death:
- The medical examiner assumed one type of gun had been used (a semi-automatic), when actually an automatic weapon that takes the same type of bullets was what killed Pat Tillman. This is how the 3 bullet holes so accurately close together on his forehead came to be: they were a burst shot, not 3 separate trigger pulls. The medical examiner didn't know that because of stonewalling & inaccurate testimony.
- Pat Tillman was against the war in Iraq from the start and was disillusioned with Army procedures from the get-go. But he believed he was doing good work in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is why he had enlisted in the first place. He was critical of US foreign policy, military actions, and the Bush administration, but only to friends, family, and his journals. He repeatedly turned down media requests for interviews. It doesn't make sense that he was killed to shut him up about his critical views of the war when he wasn't even talking to the public about it. He was a very private person by nature. Plus, he had the chance to leave the Army early and return to his NFL career but refused to take it in order to fulfill his 3-year commitment. Interestingly, it's Kevin Tillman who has been more publicly critical of US foreign policy: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/04/15/kevin-tillman-brother-pat-draws-line-afghanistan-capitol-riot/7236324002/
Good book, good reporting! I'm glad I read it.
I was shocked. Could this really be true? that as an Arizonan I had never heard this side of the story?
Thankfully Jon Krakauer, a journalist whom I really respect, wrote a book about it. I read this book specifically to find out the answer to this question. The parts about his growing up and football career were well written, but since I didn't care about any of that, I found it boring. The parts about the convoluted politics of Afghanistan and Pakistan were brief but informative, and I learned a lot. And about the Tillman conspiracy, I got my answer.
Yes, there was a conspiracy from the highest levels of the US government to cover up Tillman's fratricide, but not to murder him. Donald Rumsfeld had been personally tracking Tillman's career since his first weeks at bootcamp, and Tillman's platoon leader in the Rangers was also known by name by top brass since he had graduated first in class at West Point and had been chosen to lead a parade during Bush's inauguration.
As far as Krakauer can tell: enemies did launch a few mortars or grenades at the convoy that was hauling a broken Humvee through a narrow canyon. The convoy started returning fire, and the half of the platoon that had gone ahead of the convoy group (Tillman's group) turned around to assist. Tillman and two other men ran up on a ledge above the canyon and did not see any enemy fighters at that point. Despite repeated calls from both halves of the platoon on the radios to cease fire, being visible enough that nearly all the officers involved said they could see US-issued camo uniforms on the ledge, a purple smoke bomb thrown to alert the officers in the canyon that they were friendly, and waving their arms in the air with their weapons down, Tillman and one other man who followed him were killed. The elite Ranger who killed Tillman was completely out of control: he was shooting directly behind him at vehicles in his own convoy and refused to stop shooting even when another soldier pulled on his pants while yelling to cease fire. The firefight lasted nearly 15 minutes.
What a nightmare, but it didn't end there. From the very outset of dealing with the body, Army protocol was broken—Tillman's uniform was removed and burned, including some of his personal effects that his brother Kevin (who served alongside him from bootcamp through the Rangers) repeatedly requested be retrieved. The White House, ie Rumsfeld and Bush, were informed of Tillman's fratricide before the Tillman family had been informed of his death. Orders from the very top down were to deliberately mislead and even outright lie about how Tillman had been killed. In fact, it wasn't until Kevin reunited with his Rangers platoon after a grieving period that the Army realized the keeping the gag order on nearly 600 people whom Kevin worked, slept, ate and drank with wasn't going to last long, and they tried to get ahead of the problem. They told Kevin, then the White House prepared a no-questions press conference to happen on Memorial Day weekend when most Americans wouldn't be paying attention. The news leaked and the press were the ones who informed Tillman's mother of the truth. If Pat hadn't been famous, and if Kevin hadn't returned to work, would the truth ever have gotten out? Many of the people involved grew disillusioned and even disgusted with the military over the incident, seeing through thin attempts to distract and placate soldiers from the reality that the military only cares about them so long as they are alive.
Addressing specific points from the inaccurate conspiracy theory about Tillman's death:
- The medical examiner assumed one type of gun had been used (a semi-automatic), when actually an automatic weapon that takes the same type of bullets was what killed Pat Tillman. This is how the 3 bullet holes so accurately close together on his forehead came to be: they were a burst shot, not 3 separate trigger pulls. The medical examiner didn't know that because of stonewalling & inaccurate testimony.
- Pat Tillman was against the war in Iraq from the start and was disillusioned with Army procedures from the get-go. But he believed he was doing good work in Afghanistan, and Afghanistan is why he had enlisted in the first place. He was critical of US foreign policy, military actions, and the Bush administration, but only to friends, family, and his journals. He repeatedly turned down media requests for interviews. It doesn't make sense that he was killed to shut him up about his critical views of the war when he wasn't even talking to the public about it. He was a very private person by nature. Plus, he had the chance to leave the Army early and return to his NFL career but refused to take it in order to fulfill his 3-year commitment. Interestingly, it's Kevin Tillman who has been more publicly critical of US foreign policy: https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2021/04/15/kevin-tillman-brother-pat-draws-line-afghanistan-capitol-riot/7236324002/
Good book, good reporting! I'm glad I read it.